


The Things One Does for Love

by immediateinfatuation



Category: Trollhunters (Cartoon)
Genre: Cosplay, Couples Cosplay, Creepslayerz, Fluff, M/M, Steli, This is the gayest thing I've ever written, basically the entire thing is rushed ok, canonverse, implied jlaire, the ending is so rushed yikes, this is cheesier than a five cheese pizza
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-27 23:25:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13891344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/immediateinfatuation/pseuds/immediateinfatuation
Summary: In which Steve and Eli couples cosplay, and Steve isn't so thrilled about it.





	The Things One Does for Love

Over the course of their courtship, Steve Palchuk had gradually grown accustomed to Eli Pepperjack’s interests, each of which was even nerdier than the last. He had sat through his share of those Japanese cartoons his boyfriend was infatuated with watching, his amber eyes flitting across the bottom (and, occasionally, the top) of the computer screen as he struggled to read the subtitles before they disappeared seconds later to be swapped with a fresh line of dialogue. In addition, he had invested countless hours of his life into watching and rewatching the seemingly everlasting  _ Star Trek  _ film and television franchises. 

Luckily, Eli had been sure to select critically acclaimed Japanese cartoons (the technical term for which was anime, as Steve would frequently be reminded), anime practically anybody, including those like Steve, who weren’t as immersed in the imaginative world of Japanese animation, would have enjoyed. And Steve had to admit that the Japanese cart-- _ anime-- _ his boyfriend had forced him to watch were considerably better than the crap that aired on early Saturday mornings in America. 

Additionally, Steve had come to realize that the  _ Star Trek  _ series and film adaptations had an astounding amount of depth to them, that they didn’t solely consist of uncanningly costumed men and women flying across galaxies in spaceships and shooting aliens like he had originally assumed.

But alas, all the episodes of anime and all the  _ Star Trek  _ movies in the world could not have possibly prepared Steve for what was perhaps his boyfriend’s most peculiar of interests: cosplay.

More specifically, couples cosplay. 

Steve thought disguising oneself as someone who existed exclusively in the pages of a comic book or whatever the hell else was beyond absurd. But coaxing--no,  _ compelling _ \--one’s significant other into disguising  _ their _ self as said character’s also nonexistent other half? That extended so far beyond the area of absurdity that Steve couldn’t even ascertain where the area began and where it ended.

Steve had always known that Eli would drag him to a comic con eventually, it was only a matter of time. Sooner or later the once sleepy town of Arcadia would have its own comic con, and the instant it was announced, Steve was the second to know. The first being Eli, obviously. 

When Eli had called him unexpectedly that night (he almost never called first, unless, of course, he was craving Steve’s touch like a pregnant woman craves carbohydrates or Jim, Claire, and Toby had invited the two of them along on a trip to the troll market) and had enthusiastically informed him of the future occurrence, Steve had assumed that Eli would dress up as Edward Elric, Spock, or some other character he admired. He had not, however, expected Eli to apprehensively inquire if he wanted to be Zelda.

Steve was no stranger to video games, now that Eli was a part of his life. In fact, he could recollect watching Eli play a particular game, the title of which included the unusual name he had recently emitted. 

“The blonde dude in green? Uh, yeah, sure! I don’t see why not!” Steve spoke into the phone, wishing they were conversing in person instead of through their smartphone screens so that he could visibly see Eli beam with the realization that his football-playing, party-going boyfriend would be doing the unbelievable in a matter of months: cosplaying, and while surrounded by the same kinds of people he would stuff into lockers once upon a time. 

But then Eli laughed and laughed and laughed, and suddenly Steve was grateful Eli couldn’t see his face, because he imagined the the current color of it coincided with Toby’s trademark sweater vest.

“‘The blonde dude in green’ is Link, not Zelda!” Eli had somehow managed to say between outbursts of laughter.

“Then who the flip is Zelda?” Steve exclaimed exasperatedly. Well, as exasperatedly as one could be while talking to their boyfriend.

“The beautiful princess, you dummy,” Eli giggled, “You know, the love of Link’s life?” He emitted kissing noises for additional emphasis and to further exasperate Steve. 

_ “We don’t sound like that when we kiss,” He had remarked one time when a slender scientist and a crimson-haired woman had kissed during one of the numerous, and admittedly exceptional,  anime Steve was exposed to, “I doubt even Jim and Claire sound like that when they kiss.” _

_ “Oh, you’re just jealous because you wish I was kissing you.” _

_ “You see right through me, Pepperbuddy.” _

“So...I’m crossdressing.” Steve deadpanned.

“I’m afraid so.” Chuckled Eli.

“I’m gonna be a princess.”

“The prettiest one anyone’s ever seen.”

This particular conversation had occured months ago, and while six months should’ve been more than enough time for Steve to prepare for the inevitability of dressing up as a video game princess, he was perhaps just as unprepared as he was all those months ago. And so, when Eli had arrived at his doorstep, a flaxen wig obscuring his ebony hair and clad head to toe in Link’s iconic attire, Steve began to hyperventilate, as one should when their significant other is moments away from beholding them in a golden wig that brushed the small of their back and an elegant dress that touched their ankles. 

Steve was smoothing out out the creases in his dress with trembling hands when Eli barged inside flourishing a plastic sword, which fell to his feet when Steve twirled around like a, well, like a princess; his cheeks tinged pink, and not because he had applied blush to them.

“Steve, you--” 

“I know. I look ridiculous.”

“No, you look--” Eli stepped over his sword, disregarding it entirely as he fondly threaded his fingers through the fabric of Steve’s dress, through the flaxen tangles in his wig. “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting you to dress up.”

Incidentally, that morning Steve had considered faking a stomach ache, a fever, anything, really, as long as he didn’t have to wear an itchy dress and an even itchier wig for the span of several hours. But then he reminded himself that he and Eli had been planning this day for months, and that the possibility of there being a second comic con in Arcadia was about as unlikely as Steve accepting Coach Lawrence as a father figure. But then again, if trolls were possible, then virtually everything was.

Anyway, if there was one thing Steve Palchuk didn’t want, it was to be the source of Eli’s sorrow. 

“To be even more honest, I actually wasn’t going to at first,” Steve admitted as he glanced at his feet, which were barely discernible beneath the billowing dress, “But then I thought about how sad you would’ve looked if I failed to keep my promise.”

Eli’s lips curled upwards into a lopsided smile.“You know, you could’ve dressed up as a genderbent Zelda.”

“I--wha?! That’s a thing?” Steve stammered. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because that would’ve been no fun,” Eli mused as he coiled a yellow lock around his finger, “You dressing up in boring boy clothes and all.” He stopped mid-coil, however, glancing up at Steve almost timidly, as if they were no longer boyfriends but the bully and the geek all over again. “You’re not mad, are you?”

A year ago, Steve would’ve been furious. He would’ve promptly ripped the dress to haphazard shreds. He would’ve plucked out each hair from the wig until all that remained was the elastic underneath. He would’ve gladly fed the dress and wig’s carcasses to AAARRRGGHH!!!, who would ingest just about anything. He would’ve done all this and more, had he been the same Steve Palchuk pre-Creepslayerz.

“I’m not mad,” He admitted at last, as if it were a political statement, which it might as well have been, considering pre-Creepslayerz Steve Palchuk would’ve never said such a thing, “Honest.”

Eli practically had to stand on his tiptoes to tip Steve’s chin upwards, and even more so when he pressed a swift kiss to his shimmering lips.  _ Oh, the things one does for love,  _ Steve thought as Eli deepened the kiss, and suddenly Steve didn’t mind cosplaying so much after all.

 


End file.
